Review of Visions of Atlantis - Trinity

I’m not familiar with Visions of Atlantis’ previous vocalist, but from what I hear, the new one, an American soprano named Melissa, outshines her, and it’s not hard to believe. She nails a good number of high notes and carries the mid-range and lower notes well, too. If this were a review of Melissa’s voice, it’d be a simple and hearty recommendation. But there’s more than a pretty girl with a pretty voice on tap here, and I’m sorry to report that the parts that make up the Austrian symphonic metal outfit behind her fall short on too many levels to give this disc the same praise that I would her voice.

“At the Back of Beyond” kicks things off on the right foot: strings usher in bombastic synth lines that pave the way for up-tempo drumming and fast riffing that quickly move to the backseat as male vocalist Mario trades off with Melissa, who carries an über-catchy chorus that eventually leads to a nice enough guitar solo. The song is over before you know it and it goes down like something syrupy and sweet. Though it may not be the most original thing to come out of a female-fronted symphonic metal band (i.e., it’s derivative), it’s at least entertaining and a good example of the genre. The problem with Trinity is that most of the songs aren’t like “At the Back of Beyond”; most of them are painful and corny like “The Poem”, a song carried by Mario’s clean vocals, or tedious like “Return to You.” Trinity isn’t a disposable album because it’s particularly bad (though Mario’s vocals seem a little off at times, listen to “Through My Eyes”); its biggest fault is its completely average and uninspired output. You’ve heard everything on Trinity before, only you likely heard something better than this.

Visions of Atlantis do bring good drumming and the rather unique approach of clean male vocals instead of harsh ones, but there’s not much else I can point to on Trinity that would persuade you to spend your cash on this album instead of others in the genre by similar and superior artists like Nightwish, Epica, or Leaves’ Eyes.

Release Details

Visions of Atlantis

Trinity

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